Pastoral Care
Letter to the Editor, CEN, 29 July 2016 from Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden:
Sir
We wrote recently that evidence based research is needed into the many examples of good pastoral care offered by evangelical and orthodox churches to to people with same-sex attraction. (‘Pastoral care or accommodation’ Church of England Newspaper June 30).
Those examples we cited and are familiar with where people in same-sex relationships prefer to attend orthodox churches than those where their practice would be welcomed, show that people facing struggles in areas of sexual relationships, be that in failing or failed marriages, or same-sex relationships are looking above all else for a sense of being embraced by a loving and caring community, of not being excluded or judged out of hand, and a set of relationships on which they can rely, whatever their situation.
Christians offer love, inclusion and acceptance to people of other faiths in many parts of India, despite disagreeing with them profoundly on the divinity of Jesus. They also offer such love to people who self-define as homosexual.
Currently some activists are reducing this deep human need for affirmation to political, legal and liturgical terms. This asks for the church to say “You are alright left as you are” rather than to express love and care and the love expressed in the teaching of the gospel.
To take the latter – lex orandi, lex credendi is often cited as the Anglican definition of doctrine: what we pray, we believe, Thus formal prayers that ‘bless’ same sex relationships would be a clear change of doctrine in that they invoke God’s blessing on what the scripture and the church has consistently called disobedience and sin.
In current debates, many activists are demanding unconditional love, but in contradiction with the condition that unless you agree with them, accept their self-definition and requirements to the extent of changing the teaching of the Bible and the church, you do not love them. This is to put conditions on love that are impossible to fulfil and to end the possibility of freedom of speech and of belief.
Yours sincerely
Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden
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